Local woman takes on Virginia

By Kathryn RossThe Spectator

Saturday

Oct 13, 2018 at 10:45 PMOct 13, 2018 at 10:45 PM

WAYNESBORO, Va. — If you are traveling south before November’s election and happen to cross into Virginia on I-81, don’t be surprised if you see a familiar face looking down at you from an election billboard.

Jennifer Lewis, who grew up as one of the daughters of Ed and Sue Lewis in Whitesville, is running for Congress in the 6th Congressional District in the state of Virginia. Formerly held as a Republican seat, which saw a big turnout in the 2016 election for President Trump, Lewis is the untried candidate for the Democrats.

Lewis beat out three contenders to win the Democratic primary for the district on June 12, winning 47.6 percent of the vote. She now faces state government delegate Ben Cline and is the first Democrat in 26 years to challenge a Republican for the seat.

That is keeping her busy, she said in an interview with The Spectator Thursday, as she goes door to door almost daily to get her name in front of the voters of the Virginia 6th, which reaches from Middletown in the North to Roanoke in the south and includes the cities of Harrisburg and Lexington, and the Shenandoah National Park.

“The sixth is a diverse district. It is very rural in some areas and then there are some big cities. My biggest challenge is getting my name out there and getting the vote out. Only 54 percent of the voters in the county voted in the last election. People are just tired of politics, the lies and deceptions. I want people to know that I’m not your typical politician and that I’m not taking any corporate funding or funding from special interest groups,” she said.

Interestingly, Lewis is getting some funding from people in her hometown of Whitesville, for which she says, “I’m very grateful for their support. It means the world to me.”

Her bio says she "grew up unloading hay and picking rock on her small, family-owned dairy farm." Lewis is a 1999 graduate of Whitesville Central School where she was on the yearbook staff, participated in the DECCA Club, and was part of the choir and Drum Major with the band. She went on to attend SUNY Oneonta, where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and Environmental studies, and met her husband Ben.

After doing an internship in Richmond, Va., she fell in love with Virginia, so she and Ben moved to Waynesboro where they have lived for the past 11 years with their dog and cat.

She says that the 6th District is very much like Allegany County and is very agricultural, growing corn, soybeans, cattle and poultry.

Lewis says she has long harbored a desire to run for office.

“I was thinking about it in elementary school,” she recalls. “But with the state of the country and politics in general and with the incumbent retiring, it seemed like the right time to run.”

Even though this is the first time she has run for office, Lewis has made a name for herself as a local activist. She's been an active member of her community in Augusta County and Waynesboro, volunteering for various local groups, including Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and serving on boards and commissions. She is a board member for Wild Virginia, a member of the Headwaters Soil and Water Board, and founded Friends of Augusta, a local group in opposition to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

She spent the early part of her professional career working in the Virginia public school system, providing mental health services to at-risk youth. She currently works with adults with mental illness who are transitioning from inpatient care back into the community.

If she doesn’t win in November, Lewis said she plans to run again in 2020.

“We’re going to be holding Ben’s feet to the fire," she said of her opponent.

If she does go to Congress, Lewis said she will be working to “return the power to the people and get the money out of politics.”

She has had no second thoughts about her run for Congress, saying, “Everyday when we knock on doors or meet people at a rally, I’m hearing about the struggles and the sacrifices that people are dealing with every day. It is a good feeling to know that we have some answers and solutions for them and that they are willing to listen to us. Showing up for the people is half the battle.”

With chronically low voter turn out, not only in the 6th District but also across the nation, Lewis said she vividly recalls what her history teacher at Whitesville Central School said to her years ago, “Mr. (David) Palmiter told us that if you don’t vote then you can’t complain. It is important that we get the vote out and that everybody has a voice.”

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